Mp3bullet.ng presents Nigerian artists who are constantly involved in Controversial issues.
Some Nigerian Artists have found themselves on different occasions as the main protagonist in controversial stories.
Stardom, like the classic moth drawn to the flame, attracts and breeds controversy.
This fact, combined with the adage that “no exposure is bad publicity,” explains why, despite the many glittering ingredients that come together to create an artist, controversy has become quite the launching pad to recognition throughout the years.
As a result, it’s been speculated that some artists use it to draw attention to themselves.
Nowadays, owing to social media, artists are served bouts of controversy, whether or not they created them.
We used a controversy metre against Nigerian musicians to come up with a list of the most controversial artists in recent times.
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Burna Boy
During the early years of Burna Boy’s spectacular ascent to stardom, a music analyst prophesied that his meteoric rise would be overshadowed by his numerous controversies.
This was not far from the truth as Burna Boy and controversies are like 5 & 6.
Some of these controversies include calling out the MAMAs for not nominating him for a solo album, being banned from the UK for being in a gang, and more.
He was in the news again two years later for an incident involving hired goons roughing up Mr 2kay, which was proven to be sponsored by him.
There was also one Felabration concert in which Burna Boy performed in his underwear, which he claimed was in honour of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, whom he considers to be his hero.
His most famous and enduring ditzy with controversy, though, is his famous address to Coachella for using small fonts to symbolise his name. This was the start of his self-described “African Giant” moniker, but it wasn’t the end of his infamous Twitter outbursts.
Most Nigerian social media users would also recall the incident involving a voluptuous British lady alleged to be Burna Boy’s lover, which was shelved in favour of the well-known musician, Stefflon Don.
Another significant Burna Boy scandal is his feud with contemporary and former friend Davido. It happened in Ghana, following the release of the latter’s track, which made a reference to him and sparked a social media firestorm for several days.
There are several other controversies the ‘Odogwu‘ have been involved in.
However, despite his many controversies, Burna Boy has a hardcore fanbase who are his ride or die. His incredible musical prowess also speaks for him.
Naira Marley
His name isn’t on this list by chance, as the president of the Marlians fanbase is certainly deserving of that honour, as he has repeatedly proven to be the lord of not only Lamba but also controversy.
Controversies seem to be a walk in the park for Naira Marley, whose songs, music videos, tweets and posts are frequently brow-raising due to their scandalous nature.
The rapper’s biggest controversy was when he was arrested by EFCC on fraud allegations, which came on the heels of his online battle with Ruggedman and Simi in support of the Yahoo Yahoo craze in Nigeria.
Following his stint in prison, Naira Marley being a smart artist took advantage of that moment by dropping his huge hit, “Am I A Yahoo Boy“, and had scored another winning goal with the tongue-wagging Soapy.
Last year, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the rapper, singer, and record label owner had a show at Jabu Mall in Abuja despite restrictions on flights and social gatherings.
His actions had resulted in the suspension of the air company with which he had flown, as well as the closure of the mall.
He’d been complicit in a violation of Lagos state’s Covid restrictions by performing at Funke Akindele’s birthday party shortly after.
While he is still involved in controversies, Naira Marley still has his fanbase, the Marlians behind him. And also, his label, Marlian Music is among the Nigerian Labels producing buzzing artists of the moment.
Davido
Davido, who is cheerful and has an openly charitable side, is trailed by controversy like an obsessive fan.
Davido has had it all, from a sex scandal involving images of the singer in bed with Sonia Jumbo, a Ghanaian student, to accusations of stealing songs levelled by a suspected extortionist attempting to exploit the musician.
Despite being the uncontested ‘OBO,’ the singer has been involved in a handful of cash controversies, one of which involved a forged check that a car dealership he patronized was unable to cash.
However, the musician’s controversies took a dark turn when three of his pals, Chime, Olu, and Tagbo, died within days of each other, the first of whom had been with him on the day he died.
From his Sophia Momodu baby mama scandal to accusations of being disloyal to his current baby mama and one-time fiancee, Chioma, there has been a major occurrence of run-ins with lovers and women in general.
He was also accused by a pair of girls of having impregnated one of them, but they were later revealed to be regretful pranksters in the face of Davido’s threat to arrest them.
Things have calmed down for the singer in recent months, but his altercation with Burna Boy during December of last year was the buzz of the internet, with an obviously angry Davido vowing to abandon music.
His latest scandal saw him reclaim his playboy position by kissing a new love interest known as Mya Yafai, signalling the end of his very public relationship with Chioma, his son’s mother.
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Wizkid
Wizkid, the king of carefree living, has been involved in a number of controversies, the most notable of which involved baby mama drama.
His first major scandal was when a particular Carolyn Ikpea, who wasn’t his girlfriend at the time, Tania, came out and admitted to having an affair with him. He and his girlfriend had broken up by that time.
Soon later, rumours began to circulate that the singer was expecting her second child. Binta Diallo, the baby mama of Guinean descent, called her infant Ayo to avoid Wizkid’s denial of the baby.
According to her, this was a technique gained from the events surrounding the birth of his first son, Boluwatife, with Shola Ogudu.
Wizkid later got into a club altercation with Dammy Krane, who claimed he had stolen his song and was allegedly assaulted with a shattered bottle by Wizkid.
Wizkid was next in the news in 2018 when his first two baby mamas called him out after his third, Jada Pollock, lauded his fathering skills of their son, Zion.
Then, in 2019, things seemed to get a little tense between him and his third baby mama, Jada when she posted an Instagram post accusing Wizkid of domestic abuse on multiple occasions.
She’d already said that she was leaving the artist, as well as her role as his manager. She eventually withdrew the comment, claiming she’d been hacked, 24 hours later.
Because of Wizkid’s way of responding to complaints, which is silence, most of these accusations were kept to a minimum.
While rare, there have been times when he has been the one who has called out someone.
He has called out Tinie Tempah and his partner, Dumi Oburota, for alleged shady dealings with his brand through their Disturbing London management firm. This was a double incident.
At the height of the #EndSARs, an apparently enraged Wizkid had brusquely admonished Reekado Banks for promoting their collaboration in the midst of the commotion.
Tiwa Savage
Tiwa Savage’s scandals have been few but noteworthy throughout the course of her nearly a decade-long career.
Tiwa Savage had her first scandal in 2016, when her now ex-husband Teebillz accused her of adultery, alleging that she had affairs with Don Jazzy, Dr Sid, and Tuface, who is now known as 2Baba.
Shortly after, their marriage fell apart, and Tiwa Savage gave Pulse Entertainment an exclusive interview about the circumstances surrounding her divorce.
Tiwa Savage’s next run with controversy came in 2018, following the popularity of her Wizkid-featured romantic single, Ma Lo, which they’d then performed at several shows with hot displays of love.
While neither party ever explicitly said that they were dating, their relationship was widely publicised and reached a pinnacle when Wizkid cast her as his love interest in his Fever video.
The top female musician’s next controversial moment didn’t come until this year, during the Tiwa Savage and Seyi Shay feud, when she dragged the latter to filth and swore on the life of her only son, Jamil, to serve as the corroborator for her innocence in the wake of Seyi Shay’s previous accusations of hatred.
However, her biggest controversy came when she revealed during an interview that an unknown person had gotten a hold of her s*xtape with which she was being threatened.
She stated that she wasn’t going to pay the blackmailer and later in a show, revealed that people weren’t going to see the s*xtape. However, things took a drastic turn when someone leaked what was alleged the scandalous tape.
Buju
With his vocals and penchant to get into trouble and survive it, the gifted artist has demonstrated he’s not simply another new kid on the block, much like his mentor, Burna Boy.
Buju’s first dance with controversy occurred in May of last year when an up-and-coming musician known as Foresythe shared screenshots of Buju criticising his career in response to his request to feature Buju on his song.
Buju apologised, adding, “I messed up but e get why,” and some music analysts who attended Babcock have since supported Buju’s statements, claiming that the performer in question treated him similarly during their time there.
In May of this year, his alleged girlfriend, a Dr. Amira, accused him of domestic violence, claiming that she was the one who paid for his lifestyle as a musician and that other his girlfriends had previously told her about his abusive behaviour.
A friend of Dr. Amira’s had also come forward on her Instagram account, claiming to have seen Buju fly into a rage and stating that while she was eager to testify in court, her friend was not coming forward for money or clout.
Buju’s third round of controversy revolved around tweets from the past. Some Twitter users apparently conducted a search of his previous tweets and discovered receipts dating back to 2016 in which he disparaged various Nigerian music singers, including Wizkid, Davido, Mr Eazi, Yemi Alade, and others.
These discoveries did not sit well with Wizkid and Davido fans, who went on to criticise the singer.
Buju had then responded with a video that indicated he was unconcerned before taking the high road and apologised for his conduct, claiming he had no idea he would later release music, demonstrating his ability to withstand the flames of controversy.
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Brymo
Brymo is an excellent musician with an ego to match. On the bluebird app, Twitter, he’s stirred things up by claiming that his craft isn’t valued enough and that he’s the best musician in the country.
After the release of his Heya! single, which he graced wearing a leather thong and had made him the talk of the Nigerian internet sphere, things got a little heated for Brymo.
The musician’s second brush with scandal, however, was not as light-hearted, as it came in the shape of a rape allegation, which he strongly denied in ways that irritated some online users, prompting them to demand his cancellation.
Last Year, his infamous rant on Twitter almost put in hot waters after he threw a jab at Davido’s “A Better Album” prompting Peruzzi to directly call him out about it.
While he apologized and went awol for a while, he resurfaced and this time, called out veteran music icon, 2Baba.
Brymo accused 2Baba of falsely accusing him of sleeping with his wife and sponsoring boys to attack him.
While 2Baba responded with a defamation suit against him, he is yet to directly respond to Brymo’s allegations.